Mariners top prospects have arrived in Tacoma. Here’s what to expect during their summer stay
Professional baseball is back in Tacoma.
Monday morning, for the first time in nearly 11 months, the pitching mound was tamped down, the chalk was sprinkled down the base lines and players roamed the fresh outfield grass at Cheney Stadium.
These weren’t the Rainiers — the minor league baseball season was canceled last month, meaning Tacoma’s team won’t return to its stadium until 2021 — they were the future of the Mariners, and they will be in town all summer.
When Major League Baseball announced its return in June, and each team was allowed a 60-man player pool from which to populate its active roster, Seattle opted to load its up with prospects who, after summer camp broke, could continue developing at the site of the club’s Triple-A affiliate located a short — or lengthy, depending on the time of day — freeway trip away.
Those up-and-comers — 25 of them, including Mariners top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez, and top pitching prospect Logan Gilbert — and staff arrived in Tacoma to play their first intrasquad game Monday.
They’ll spend the next two months continuing to form what should be a bright future for baseball in Seattle. Here are five storylines to follow during their summer stay:
NEW STADIUM, SAME SCORCHING BAT FOR KELENIC
Kelenic made a convincing case to be added to the Mariners’ Opening Day roster with an explosive performance in summer camp — he went 8-for-20 with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI, three stolen bases, three walks and seven strikeouts in nine games.
But, the Mariners made it clear they would continue to develop the young outfielder, who turned 21 years old earlier this month, instead of rush him to the majors after just 92 plate appearances above A-ball last season.
If Kelenic was at all disappointed he did not break camp with Seattle, his plate production surely didn’t show it — his bat was just as stunning his first day in Tacoma. He had never stepped foot into Cheney Stadium until Monday, but he cleared its right field wall twice against pitching prospects Ljay Newsome and Joey Gerber and finished a double short of the cycle in seven plate appearances.
“He does what he’s always done, which is go in and give you great at-bats,” Mariners director of player development Andy McKay, one of the coaches on site, said on a video call with reporters postgame. “He really knows how to control the strike zone and he impacts the baseball.
“He’s got a competitive nature about him that, whether it’s in T-Mobile (Park) or coming down here for the first time in an environment like this, it doesn’t really matter, he’s competing against the pitcher and he’s taking every at-bat like it’s the last one he’ll ever have. It was a lot of fun to watch him do that today.”
Kelenic said on a video call with reporters postgame he is approaching intrasquad games this summer with the same intensity he would in any game.
“Every single day I’m going out and trying to compete and have fun with the guys,” he said. “And that’s not a cliche answer, even though it may sound like one. That’s 100% what I’m trying to do. I understand the circumstances, but for me I’m just going to go out there and compete every single day.”
McKay said the Mariners will focus on challenging Kelenic against left-handed pitching, as well as get him regular reps in center field to determine which position in the outfield he fits best, and take a longer look at his ability to run the bases. The hope is to get him somewhere around 175 at-bats.
GILBERT WILL GET HIS INNINGS IN
Had the minor league season started in April as planned before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Gilbert likely would have cracked Seattle’s starting rotation by now.
But, without the spring months to allow him to develop in Double- and Triple-A, Gilbert, like Kelenic, should remain in Tacoma all summer.
In his first professional season last year, the Mariners’ first-round draft pick from 2018 logged 135 innings in three rungs of the minors, finishing the summer with nine starts and a 2.88 ERA with Double-A Arkansas.
He won’t be able to match that inning count in a shortened summer, but McKay is still confident Gilbert has enough time to build up.
“I would think we’re going to be able to somewhat comfortably get into that 60-70 (innings) area,” he said. “Going back into what we’ve already done through summer camp up at T-Mobile, and keep in mind many of these players, like you saw with Logan, came in ready to go. He’s also been doing things on his own before he came here.”
Gilbert was back home in Florida during the baseball shutdown, worked from a mound in his backyard, trained at a facility near his house when the state reopened and even threw some bullpens at Stetson, the university he was drafted from.
In summer camp intrasquad games, he allowed one run on three hits across 3 2/3 innings in two appearances, and struck out seven while walking one.
KIRBY, HANCOCK WILL GET ON THE MOUND
Seattle’s two most recent first-round draft picks, George Kirby (Elon, 2019) and Emerson Hancock (Georgia, 2020), will both get on the mound in Tacoma this summer.
Neither appeared in an intrasquad game during summer camp due to where they were at with their throwing progressions entering July. There was no reason to push them too soon or risk injury, Mariners manager Scott Servais said last week.
“We’re just taking a very cautious type approach with them,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do. They understand it. It’s just where they were in their throwing programs before they got to this camp.”
Both will get opportunities to throw in Tacoma, though. McKay said Kirby is a bit ahead of Hancock, and anticipates he will pitch in a game in the next 10-14 days. Hancock may follow a week or two after.
“We’re not in a rush whatsoever,” McKay said. “They both came out of unique circumstances, where George was kind of in the hot spot of just outside of New York City when COVID really erupted, and he was set back by that for obvious reasons, and then Emerson was in a different place with the shutdown in the college season, and not really sure what was going on with that college season and the draft. So, we’re just trying to do the right thing here and slow play that one a little bit.”
SOME WILL BATTLE FOR ROSTER SPOTS IN SEATTLE
Not every player in Tacoma is there for purely developmental purposes. Outfielders Jake Fraley and Braden Bishop, utility player Patrick Wisdom and a handful of relievers will all continue to battle for possible playing time with the big league club.
Fraley, who debuted for the Mariners late last summer, was expected to break camp with with Seattle, but a slow start in summer camp — he was 3-for-20 with eight strikeouts in eight games — hampered that plan.
“We have every intention that Jake will end the season the big leagues,” McKay said. “We have every intention that in a few years when our plan is kind of coming to fruition in Seattle that Jake is part of that process.
“But right now, it’s about trying to help him survive at the plate a little bit. And just like everything when things go south, there’s usually multiple factors that come into play. Jake’s tough, he works hard and he will get through this, and he will be just fine. We have every bit of confidence that he’s going to end up right back where he wants to be and where we want him to be.”
Bishop is another who made his debut with Seattle last year, but has struggled to produce offensively. He was 4-for-24 in 11 summer camp games with 11 strikeouts, but started hitting more consistently near the end, and has a pair of homers in two intrasquad games since the big league club departed.
“Braden is just one of those guys that no matter where he is, he’s going to find a way to always think about everybody else, make everybody else better, to improve the atmosphere and the energy, and you couldn’t be happier for him to have the success that he’s had the past few days,” McKay said. “He’s putting himself in a position that obviously if we need help up there we would love to send him up.”
Relievers like Erik Swanson and Art Warren — who have big league experience — and Sam Delaplane, Aaron Fletcher and Joey Gerber are among those who could also end up with Seattle at some point.
INDIVIDUAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT WILL BE A FOCUS
There is no way to replicate a traditional minor league season, Seattle does believe it can stay on track with player growth by focusing on individual skill development in Tacoma.
The plan is to play three or four intrasquad games per week — maybe even five when the starting pitchers are stretched out — and create a competitive structure to work on player plans on days they’re not playing.
“I think from a skill development standpoint, we’re going to be able to take huge strides, and maybe in some cases, take strides that we could not have taken over the course of a traditional minor league season,” McKay said. “The parts that you’re going to miss that you just can’t replicate are a long road trip, you know, an 0-for-25 without the ability to take a pause and practice. It’s those stressful environments that that are happening, you just can’t replicate them, and ultimately those are probably the biggest boxes that you have to check off in the upper minor leagues before you go to the big leagues.
“That’s just been taken from us. But, we’re going to find plenty of ways to develop the individual skills. … You do have to take advantage of what is offered to you, and the individual skill development should not take a hit at all.”
Here’s a list of who is currently participating in workouts at Cheney Stadium:
Pitchers (12): RHP Isaiah Campbell, RHP Sam Delaplane, LHP Aaron Fletcher, RHP Joey Gerber, RHP Logan Gilbert, RHP Emerson Hancock, RHP George Kirby, RHP Ljay Newsome, RHP Erik Swanson, RHP Juan Then, RHP Art Warren, LHP Brandon Williamson.
Catchers (2): Brian O’Keefe, Cal Raleigh.
Infielders (6): Tyler Keenan, Noelvi Marte, Kaden Polcovich, Austin Shenton, Donovan Walton, Patrick Wisdom.
Outfielders (5): Braden Bishop, Zach DeLoach, Jake Fraley, Jared Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez (in Tacoma, but unlikely to play in games while rehabbing a fractured left wrist).
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
